Live updates: 48 victims of Stardust fire were unlawfully killed, jury ...

In their findings, the jury said that the fire in the Stardust began in the hot press in the main bar, due to an electrical fault. They were not able to determine what time the fire started. They said that the polyurethane foam used in the seating and the height of the ceiling in the west alcove of the venue contributed to the spread of fire.

The jury also found that the carpet tiles used on the walls contributed to the spread of the fire, and that at least some of the exit doors were locked, chained or otherwise obstructed at the time of the fire. They said this impeded the ability to access emergency exits and exit through them for those who died.

The toxicity of the smoke, the heat of the fire and the lack of staff preparedness in the club also affected the ability of the deceased to exit the building, the jury found.

Today's verdict is the culmination of a decades-long journey for families and friends of the 48 people who lost their lives after the fire in February 1981. File picture 

The findings mark the culmination of a decades-long journey for families and friends of the 48 people who lost their lives after a fire in the popular north Dublin ballroom in the early hours of February 14, 1981.

The verdicts also come almost a year to the day since the inquests first sat on April 25, 2023.

Some Stardust family members jumped to their feet and clapped at the verdict, while some sat in their seats and were moved to tears.

Others embraced each other as soon as “unlawful killing” was said by the foreman of the jury.

In her closing remarks, coroner Dr Myra Cullinane said that these were the longest inquests in the history of the Irish State. She paid tribute to the jury for dedicating their time across an entire year. 

“It has been a great act of public service on your part,” she said.

To the assembled families, she said: “I note this is a source of ongoing grief. And is the defining loss of their lives.” 

 She urged them to take solace from the fact that these fresh inquests were held and the facts examined in detail, “however difficult as it was to hear all the evidence”.

“The fact they’ve been held at all is in no small part due to persistence of family over the years,” Dr Culliane said. “We remember the 48 people who lost their lives. It is their lives we’ve sought to vindicate by way of these inquests.”

Deliberation

The foreman of the jury told Ms Cullinane on Wednesday that majority verdicts had been reached after 11 days of deliberation.

The coroner deferred the delivery of the verdicts until 2pm on Thursday to give family members of those who died in the tragedy time to gather at Dublin District Coroner’s Court.

Following a long and sustained campaign from families of victims, then-attorney general Seamus Woulfe in September 2019 granted the fresh inquests into the deaths of the 48 Stardust victims.

He said there had been an “insufficiency of inquiry” into their deaths at the original inquests in 1981 and directed the coroner to hold fresh inquests, saying that it was “in the public interest and in the interests of justice”.

Having sat for over 120 days, and heard from over 370 witnesses, the jury began deliberating on Wednesday, April 3, on their verdicts. During these inquests, the jury heard evidence from patrons there on the night, staff at the Stardust, emergency responders who rushed to the scene, pathologists and fire experts.

Ms Cullinane had told them there were five options open to them — accidental death, misadventure, unlawful killing, an open verdict and a narrative verdict.

Counsel on behalf of the families of victims, in closing submissions, urged the jury to return a verdict of unlawful killing, pointing to factors such as the carpet tiles placed on the walls contributing to the rapid spread of fire, the evidence of locks and chains on the exit doors and the lack of fire training for the staff at the Stardust.

On Wednesday, the foreman told Ms Cullinane that the jury’s seven women and five men could not reach a unanimous verdict.

The inquests into the deaths of 48 people after a fire at the Stardust nightclub in Artane, north Dublin, began in April last year.

The coroner then said she would accept a simple majority of seven and allowed the jury’s deliberations to continue. Fifteen minutes later, the jury returned and confirmed it had reached majority verdicts.

Speaking in Brussels on Thursday before the verdicts were delivered, Taoiseach Simon Harris said he was "extremely conscious of the fact that this must be an extraordinarily difficult and emotional day for all of the families involved".

"As Taoiseach, I certainly stand ready to interact and engage with those families once the outcome of the inquests comes through today, but let's have that first out of respect for the families and their longstanding campaign for truth and justice." 

In the Dáil, Leaders’ Questions at noon began with Tánaiste Micheál Martin and Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty stating that their thoughts were with the families of those who died in the Stardust fire.

“They have waited, as we all know, four decades to answers to what happened to their loved ones at that time and they faced many, many obstacles including those put in their way by this state,” Mr Doherty said.

“I hope that the families involved today get those answers that they have been waiting for.” 

The Tánaiste added: “My thoughts and all of our thoughts are with the families of those who died in the Stardust tragedy in 1981.

“This will be a huge moment for the families and indeed for the entire country because the Stardust tragedy is seared on the collective consciousness of the Irish people and the tenacity of the families and their success in securing this inquest has been a service to all in society.”